Programme

Chair: Robin Zingarelli

Speakers: Dom Ford, Stefano Gualeni, Daniel Vella, Nele Van de Mosselaer, Magdalena Kozyra

Scholar’s Codex (Tune & Fairweather, 2026) takes up the challenge of communicating notions and perspectives in game studies to a general audience by offering a collection of essays that make complex ideas about play, games, game design, and game communities approachable to all readers without sacrificing depth. The volume gathers essays that each focus on a single in-game object (such as gems, weapons and obscure relics) drawn from FromSoftware titles such as Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring. Starting from these elements, the volume’s contributors develop reflections that connect design, interpretation and philosophy, mirroring the fragmentary and evocative storytelling of these games. This ninety-minute panel brings together the four editors and two authors to discuss the book’s contents, its ambitions and its unique form. Open to both fans and scholars, Writing the ‘Scholar's Codex’ explores how academic perspectives on games can reach wider audiences.